Free schools in free fall - integrate them into LA system now

Three new Brent secondary free schools are due to take Year 7 pupils in September 2014, nine months away. Gateway (Wembley Central) and Gladstone (Dollis Hill) have yet to find premises and there is no sign of any work going on at Michaela's disused and derelict ex-college building next to the railway line at Wembley Park.

I have argued before on this blog that parents choosing these schools are buying a 'pig in a poke'. There are no previous Ofsted reports or examination results on which to base a choice or even current pupils to talk to. Apart from a skeleton staff there are just the worthy words of glossy brochures and websites on which to make a judgement.

It would help if there was confidence in the DfE's approval process but that is looking inadequate in the light of the update below from the Anti-Academies Alliance. Local authorities have little or no say so it is no use going to Brent Council for an opinion. This really leaves parents to do their own risk assessment so a close reading of the AAA report is recommended.

I will be moving an amendment to Green Party education policy at our Spring Conference committing the party to integrating academies and free schools into the local authority school system to ensure democratic accountability. An additional amendment will can for all children to be taught by a qualified teacher.

From the Anti-Academies website LINK (Fools' Gold - the free schools experiment unravels)

When Gove was elected in 2010 the first piece of legislation rushed through Parliament allowed for the creation of ‘Free’ Schools alongside the acceleration of the Academies programme.

From the outset education campaigners argued that this was a potentially devastating development – undermining existing schools, breaking up local democratic accountability, destroying teacher’s terms & conditions, the list goes on and on.

Now that ‘free’ schools have existed for a couple of years the gloss is starting to come off Gove’s shiny new toy. Below we look at the developments in the ‘free’ schools. We aim to keep this piece up to date. If you have information for us about developments in ‘free’ schools in your area please let us know at office@antiacademies.org.uk

Discovery New School the first to be closed.

Discovery New School (DNS) in Crawley, West Sussex, has been ordered to close its doors on April 4. It was one of the first 24 ‘free’ schools to open in 2011.

In a damning letter to the school’s chairman of governors, Chris Cook, Schools Minister Lord Nash said he was ending its funding agreement.

Discovery New School was declared failing and placed in special measures by the education watchdog Ofsted in May.

A Department for Education (DfE) spokesman said it had been monitoring the school’s progress and found it was not making the changes needed to improve standards.

Lord Nash’s letter said that during a visit to Discovery New School last month, Ofsted found that “no progress in the quality of teaching and learning had been made since the original special measures judgement in May”.

It added: “None of the school’s teachers were delivering good lessons and all were still consistently inadequate or required improvement.” LINK

Schools minister intervenes in failing Al-Madinah free school

An Ofsted report declares that the Al-Madinah Islamic school in Derby is “in chaos” and has “not been adequately monitored or supported”.

The report says teachers at the faith school are inexperienced and have not been provided with proper training.

Pupils are given the same work “regardless of their different abilities” and the governing body is “ineffective”, according to the report which was commissioned amid reports of irregularities at the school.

A letter from schools minister Lord Nash to the chair of Al-Madinah’s governing body said the school’s trustees have agreed to resign. Supervision of the school is to be handed to Barry Day, chief executive of the Greenwood Dale foundation trust, sponsor of the Greenwood academies trust, which operates 22 academies LINK

‘Free’ school headteacher with no qualifications, or teaching experience, quits

Annaliese Briggs was appointed principal of Pimlico primary in central London in March by a charity set up by a government minister. She had no teaching qualifications and little experience in running a school. The new free school is sponsored by the Future Academies charity set up by Lord Nash, a junior schools minister and one of Michael Gove‘s closest allies.

Briggs, an English literature graduate from Queen Mary, University of London, had worked as a junior member of staff at the rightwing thinktank Civitas. She had no qualifications when appointed but was reportedly trained in Wandsworth in preparation for the beginning of the school year. She said that she would ignore the national curriculum and teach lessons “inspired by the tried and tested methods of ED Hirsch Jr”, the controversial American academic behind what he calls “content-rich” learning.

She quit after 6 months. Sources close to the academy say she was finding it difficult to cope with the workload. LINK

IES Breckland head quit in November

Sherry Zand the Principal of IES Breckland School in Brandon Suffolk resigned in November. This comes weeks after Zand fired six teachers at IES Breckland who had only been appointed in September.

Since the start of the school year nearly a third of the teaching staff have left IES. Things apparently got so bad at the school that Zand herself was roped in to teach English before she went on sick leave.

IES English Schools Ltd who run IES Breckland under the only profit making agreement to run a free school currently in place have moved fast to bring in their own UK Chairman and Chief Operating Officer Peter Fyles as Acting Principal.

Fyles is quoted by BrandonSuffolk.com as saying in a letter to parents that the search for a new permanent principal is already underway and that they would be looking for an experienced principal to take the school forward.

His choice of words is interesting as Zand had never been a Head or Deputy prior to her appointment at IES. It looks like they intend to ensure her replacement has more experience. LINK

Nishkam ‘free’ school fails Ofsted

The Nishkam primary ‘free school’ in Handsworth, Birmingham’s first free school,  opened in September 2011. It claims on its website that ‘The primary purpose of the school is the drive for academic excellence. This is exceptionally important in our aspirations for pupils to exceed national standards.’

The Nishkam school failed its Ofsted inspection in July.

It rated Nishkam Primary as ‘requiring improvement’ in all of the main areas – achievement of pupils, quality of teaching, behaviour and safety of pupils, and leadership and management. The report concluded that the school needed to raise standards because ‘there is not enough teaching which is good enough to enable pupils to learn as quickly as they should’.  Inspectors were also critical of the school’s leadership, saying leaders and governors did not have a clear understanding of the school’s strengths and weaknesses. LINK

 Kings Science Academy facing fraud investigation

OFSTED has been drawn into the row over a scandal hit free school facing fraud allegations as an MP has demanded to know why a Government probe into financial irregularities there was not mentioned in an inspection report.

MP David Ward has criticised Ofsted for not mentioning the investigation into the Kings Science Academy, in Bradford, despite the education watchdog being aware of it when it inspected the school.

The free school has been in the spotlight since a leaked report revealed that the Department for Education (DfE) had found it had submitted fabricated invoices to the Government to claim just over £10,000 in public money. LINK

‘Free’ schools programme costs 3 times more that expected

The government’s flagship free school programme will cost at least three times the sum originally allocated, the public spending watchdog has found.

The National Audit Office said the scheme allowing groups to set up state-funded schools would cost £1.5bn – the original Treasury grant was £450.

The report says: “To date, the primary factor in decision-making has been opening schools at pace, rather than maximising value for money. The Department will need to exert more control over a rising cost trend.”

The report also confirms that despite intense pressure on school places in some areas, many free schools have opened in parts of the country with no places pressure.

More than a quarter of all spending on school buildings – £241m out of £950m – has been on free schools in areas with no need for extra places forecast, the report says. LINK

‘Free’ schools performing worse than other schools

According to new figures from Ofsted, free schools are actually underperforming compared to all schools inspected by the regulator.

According to an answer by Ofsted to a parliamentary question from Jim Cunningham MP, 16 per cent of free schools were rated as ‘outstanding’ compared to 20 per cent of all schools.

56 per cent of free schools were also rated as good compared to 58 per cent of all schools; and 19 per cent of free schools were rated as ‘satisfactory/requires improvement’ compared to 20 per cent of all schools.

8 per cent of free schools were rated as ‘poor’ by Ofsted, compared to just 2 per cent of all schools.

This is particularly incredible since ‘free’ schools can select their location, premises, staff and pupils. For ‘free’ schools to perform worse than existing schools is an indictment of the policy. LINK

Unqualified teachers

A recent FOI request has shown that some ‘free’ schools are employing large numbers of unqualified teachers.

Trinity School in Sevenoaks, Kent, which opened in September 2013, said seven of its nine teachers were unqualified.

At Discovery New School in Crawley, West Sussex, which was ordered to close its doors on April 4 earlier this month (DEC), five of the school’s seven teachers were unqualified, the figures showed.

Employing unqualified teachers is one of the ‘freedoms’ that Michael Gove has encouraged. LINK

‘Free’ schools – a disaster for education

In September 2011, as the first 24 ‘free’ schools opened, we published an article that included this comment:

“Because these schools are free from much of the legislation that governs our schools serious questions have to be asked about their governance. In many cases it is unclear who their financial backers are, whether the Trustees have any relevant experience running a school, and in many cases whether the Head’s have any suitable experience.”

We have been proven right. Here at the Anti Academies Alliance we have no crystal ball. But as a coalition of education trade unionists, councillors, campaigners and parents we know something about how our schools should be run, and it’s not like this.

Michael Gove and his education experiment have to go.

The Anti-Acadmies Alliance AGM will be held on Saturday 25th January 1-4pm Canterbury Halls, Cartwright Gardens, WC1H 9EE (Kings Cross tube(

How has your Brent Councillor done this year?

The end of the year is a good time to review our councillors' performance. The table below gives an overview of attendance at committees between July 8th and today. Some councillors have many more committees to attend than others and opposition councillors often complain that the present system gives them very little voice (and thus motivation to attend?) when decisions are rubber-stamped by the Labour only  Executive and committees with in-built Labour majorities.

The Green Party has policy on this:

The Green Party believes that local authorities run by single party cabinets, or by directly elected mayors, are not in the best interests of local democracy. They take decision making powers away from councils as a whole and place them in the hands of a few individuals, leading to the disenfranchisement of those councillors who are not in the ruling party and the citizens they represent. We would therefore reintroduce the committee system across local government at all levels, which provides for direct member involvement in decision making.

The Greens also have a policy of recall if 40% or more registered electors request it.

The columns below in order list: Name, Party, Number of Required Attendances, Actual Attendances, Percentage Attendance and Additional Attendances at meetings where their attendance is not required. The latter are often meetings where a councillor represents the interests of his/her ward to the committee. Barry Cheese has the best record on that count.

Councillor Abdi Aden	Lab	12	9	75%	2
Councillor Michael Adeyeye	Lab	2	2	100%	0
Councillor Emad Al-Ebadi	Lab	9	7	78%	1
Councillor James Allie	Lab	5	3	60%	0
Councillor Mary Arnold	Lab	12	12	100%	0
Councillor Javaid Ashraf	LD	6	5	83%	0
Councillor Joyce Bacchus	Lab	5	4	80%	0
Councillor Eddie Baker	Con	10	5	50%	0
Councillor Jack Beck	LD	3	2	67%	0
Councillor Lincoln Beswick MBE	Lab	2	1	50%	0
Councillor Daniel Brown	LD	15	8	53%	1
Councillor Muhammed Butt	Lab	14	13	93%	2
Councillor Barry Cheese	LD	6	6	100%	10
Councillor Bhagwanji Chohan	Lab	9	8	89%	8
Councillor Shafique Choudhary	Lab	9	8	89%	6
Councillor M Aslam Choudry	Lab	11	9	82%	2
David Clues	Ex LD	5	0	0%	0
Councillor Reg Colwill	Con	9	7	78%	0
Councillor George Crane	Lab	15	13	87%	0
Councillor Mark Cummins	LD	11	11	100%	1
Councillor Mary Daly	Lab	6	5	83%	3
Councillor James Denselow	Lab	16	11	69%	0
Councillor Helga Gladbaum	Lab	10	10	100%	1
Councillor Simon Green	LD	5	2	40%	0
Councillor Patricia Harrison	Lab	19	16	84%	2
Councillor Sami Hashmi	LD	12	11	92%	6
Councillor Claudia Hector	Lab	10	10	100%	1
Councillor Krupesh Hirani	Lab	15	11	73%	1
Councillor Alison Hopkins	LD	12	11	92%	0
Councillor Jean Hossain	Lab	12	11	92%	0
Councillor Ann Hunter	LD	10	8	73%	0
Councillor Ann John OBE	Lab	9	5	56%	0
Councillor Lesley Jones	Lab	11	9	82%	0
Councillor Sandra Kabir	Lab	10	8	80%	0
Councillor Suresh Kansagra	Con	6	5	83%	0
Councillor Dhiraj Kataria	LD*	16	13	81%	0
Councillor Chris Leaman	LD	5	3	60%	0
Councillor Janice Long	Lab	10	10	100%	0
Councillor Paul Lorber	LD	9	7	78%	6
Councillor Roxanne Mashari	Lab	17	12	71%	1
Councillor Hayley Matthews	LD	6	2	33%	0
Councillor Margaret McLennan	Lab	12	12	100%	0
Councillor Jim Moher	Lab	14	12	86%	1
Councillor Ruth Moher	Lab	21	20	95%	1
Councillor Colum Moloney	Lab	3	3	100%	0
Councillor Wilhelmina Mitchell Murray	Lab	9	6	67%	0
Councillor Kana Naheerathan	Lab	2	1	50%	0
Councillor Benjamin Ogunro	Lab	4	4	100%	0
Councillor Tayo Oladapo	Lab	3	3	100%	1
Councillor Bhiku Patel	Con	4	4	100%	0
Councillor Chandubhai J Patel	LD	12	3	25%	1
Councillor Harshadbhai Patel	Con	14	11	79%	4
Councillor Harihar Patel	Con	7	6	86%	0
Councillor Ramesh Patel	Lab	11	8	73%	1
Councillor Michael Pavey	Lab	17	15	88%	1
Councillor James Powney	Lab	12	9	75%	0
Councillor Carol Shaw	Con**	2	2	100%	1
Councillor Ketan Sheth	Lab	18	12	67%	0
Councillor Krupa Sheth	Lab	6	5	83%	0
Councillor Harbhajan Singh	Lab	9	7	78%	0
Councillor Gavin Sneddon	LD	3	1	33%	0
Councillor Bobby Thomas	Mayor	2	2	100%	0
Councillor Zaffar Van Kalwala	Lab	11	8	73%	1

* Defected from Labour to Liberal Democrat

** Defected from Liberal Democrats back to Conservative

Clearly committee attendance is only one measure and the amount of casework and how much of it is successful is important as well as the degree of visibility and engagement of each individual councillor with their residents.

Please note some of these non-attendances may include illness. Apologies for absence are included on the Council website - click on councillor's name.

Brent SEN Conference for parents and carers - book now

Brent Council says that places are filling up fast for its special educational needs (SEN) conference at Brent Civic Centre on 29th January 2014.

This is a free event for parents and carers to find out more about new reforms that will change the way that the Council provide services for children with SEN.

It also includes:

• a keynote address from Brian Lamb, a former government advisor and senior director at Scope and RNID (Action on Hearing Loss), now a consultant in SEN and disability issues
• a panel discussion and question and answer session with Brent head teachers and representatives from education, health and social services
• the opportunity to browse a variety of stalls and stands from local and national charities that support children with SEN
• a free lunch with a vegetarian option.

The conference takes place from 9am to 2.30pm.

Places are available on a first come, first served basis and can be booked now by calling 020 8937 4901 or email robert.smith@brent.gov.uk.

Brent makes good progress on allotments and food growing

My Birchen Grove plot this morning

As the Farm Terrace alloment holders in Watford take legal action against Eric Pickles in a bid to save their plots LINK it seems a good time to review the state of allotments and allotment gardening in Brent.

The appointment of Vanessa Hampton as Food Growing and Allotment Officer and the updating of food growing strategies seems to have resulted in a much more proactive approach with issues such as uncultivated and over-grown plots being dealt with more efficiently.

In a letter to allottees Hampton reports:

• 91% of plots are let
• 99.6%of allotment plots are let or under offer
• 98.7% of plots are being cultivated (up from 92% last year)
• There have been extensive clearane to bring over 70 plots overgrown with invasive weeds back into cultivation
• From April 2013, over 15 metric tonnes of rubbish was clear from allotment sites
• She worked on sites with volunteers including 120 young adults from the Challenge Network, the Wembley Stadium Geen Team and Veolia Environmental Services
• Ongoing renovation of council-owned sheds and drainage improvement works at various sites

Vanessa is to be applauded on the progress she has made in a short time and it has been good to see visible progress on my own site at Birchen Grove. Previously uncultivated plots were left for a long time giving weeds and brambles a chance to get a real hold on them, making it harder to bring them back to cultivation and spreading weeds seeds all over neighbouring plots.

An uncultivated plot at Birchen Grove

Following in the steps of the gardening classes that have take place on the Metropolitan Housing allotments on Chalkhill Estate, Vanessa Hampton is running free master classes on 'Preparing Your Plot for Cultivation' for new or inexperienced tenants to help them 'get started on plot clearance and digging with confidence'.

She will show tenants how to transform their plot from 'grass to a productive food-growing area'. The classes are open to any plot holder, irrespective of where their plot is located are available on two dates at two different venues. They will be held regardless of weather conditions.

• Saturday 25th January 2014 from 11am-1pm Birchen Grove, Kingsbury NW9 8SE (Map showing location on entrance gate if you are late)
• Saturday 1st February 2014 from 11am-1pm at Gibbons Road allotment, Gibbons Road, Harlesden, NW10 9BR

Advance booking and tools not required but wear sturdy waterproof shoes and warm layered clothing.

Not so welcome of course is the annual increase in allotment fees. The proposed increases below are subject to the final decision of Full Council in February.

Brent Residents - Increase of 3% which raises rents from £81.11 annually for 5 poles to £83.50. Council owned sheds will increase by  4% to an annual rent of £22.50 (£21.63)

Non Brent Residents - Increase of 15% which raises rents from £81.11 to £93.30. Council owned sheds will increase by 16% to £25 (£21.63)

Community groups that serve mainly Brent residents will have the same increases as Brent residents.

However the concession for 'senior citizens' of a 50% discount on the first 5 poles will now start at the age of 60 for both men and women. Previously it was 65 for men and 60 for women.

Residents who receive unemployment benefit will  need to provide up to date proof of their status from the DWP or similar in order to receive the concessionary rate for 2014..

By the way, I still had a broad bean in flower out in the open on my plot today, December 29th...

For more on the Farm Terrace Campaign follow this LINK

Follow Natalie Bennett and sign the TeacherROAR declaration

It was good to see that Natalie Bennett, leader of the Green Party, has signed the TeacherROAR declaration, as have I.  Most of the demands are Green Party policy:

The teacherROAR movement wants: an educational landscape where teachers are not denigrated and attacked by politicians and in the press; where teachers are praised, encouraged and supported to develop their practice; where education policy is evidence-based and not used as a political football; where the need for social justice and equality is placed at the heart of education policy; where the curriculum is progressive, broad, balanced and fit for the 21st Century; where learning is child-centered; where we are developing children to their full potential in all areas and not simply preparing them for work; where education is not treated as a marketable product with customers, consumers and products; where our children are not over-tested and among the most stressed in the western world; where our pay and conditions are improving and not under constant attack; and where teachers are respected and trusted professionals whose opinion is valued and listen to by politicians.

We the undersigned declare ourselves part of the teacherROAR movement and pledge to fight for a better, fairer education system.

To add your signature and comment follow this LINK

A parent who signed the declaration commented:

As a parent, I'd like my children to be taught by people who know that they are respected, supported, and listened to. I'd like my children to be tested, when they are tested, in ways which put their needs before the government's political need for league tables. I want my children to be prepared to live lives as engaged citizens, not passive consumers, and I want the education system to be ringfenced to protect it from the whims of successive Secretaties of State and whatever political or personal agendas they may bring with them.

A teacher wrote:

Teachers are facing a concerted campaign of vilification and bullying. This government (with the support of many in the media, right-wing think tanks etc) is determined to atomise and demoralise teachers. They want to make us cheaper to hire and fire, because this will render us more exploitable and education more profitable. Teachers must stand together to resist these attacks, and we must support anyone else opposed to the increasing privatisation and commodification of the public sector.

Brent residents win £303k compensation over Preston Manor Covenants debacle

A  Settlement Agreement was reached just before Christmas on a long running battle between Preston Manor Academy Trust and Brent Council and a group of local residents led by Mr Len Gordon.

Residents had objected to the Trust and Council's application to the  Upper Chamber of the Lands Tribunal for the lifting of  Covenants that restricted the building of primary school classrooms on the Preston Manor site.

Residents were opposed to further expansion of the site on grounds of noise and light nuisance as well as increased traffic but the school and Brent Council went ahead even after the Covenants has been drawn to their attention.

Richard Barrett, Operational Director for Brent's Regeneration and Growth Department explained in his witness statement that, after a risk assessment, the Council decided to go ahead with the building work because they might otherwise have had £7m of government funding clawed back. They thought that it was unlikely that the Covenants would be upheld by the Upper Tribunal and were conscious of the need to provide more primary places.

However in his statement Barrett also stated:

I have to accept that the late discovery of these Covenants indicates that officers within the Children and Families Directorate did not undertake due diligence by carrying out title checks. In simple terms, it seems to me that they failed to appreciate that the land was not owned by the Council, but (because the school had Foundation status) was in fact owned freehold by the school. A full title search was undertaken by the Council's Regeneration and Major Projects (Property Unit) (who had by them taken over the project), in December 2010/January 2011 and this led us to discover the restrictions in the titles which permitted development but not of accommodation for a school.

The Settlement Agreement provides for the Objectors withdrawing their objections to the Applicaton by the Trust and Council for modified wording to the Covenants.

The Objectors will share a payment of £303,000 made to Brent Council by the Trusti n a full and final settlement of their entitlement and claims for compensation and any 'loss and damage howsoever arising out of the construcxtion of the primary schools and the temporary classrooms and their subsequent uses, and the other uses of the Land made by the Governing Body and the Trust...'

The Settlement Agreement includes publication of the schools' letting policy on its website alongside emergency contact numbers, highlighted conditions for people hiring the facilities to have regard to households neighbouring the school, the school's attendandance at local safer neighbourhood meetings, and facilities for the public to attend Governing Body meetings.

The Trust will update its Travel Plan and submit it to the Council's travel plan officer. The Transportation Unit will review traffic and parking problems in the area and meet with local residents on ameliorative measures.

The Covenants will be amended to allow current existing permitted educational uses with an entitilement to make 'minor changes and ancillary changes to the existing buioldings and grounds.' The Objectors waive all claims arisng out of the existing temporary classrooms on the site 'up to the end of January 2015'.

This has clearly been an expensive and time consuming process. On December 13th (before the Settlement Agreement was made) I put the following FoI request to Brent Council:

Dear Brent Borough Council,

Please supply the following information:

1. The total amount invoiced to Brent Council to date by Druces LLP for the restrictive covenant action taken on behalf of the governing body of Preston Manor School at the Land Tribunal.
2. The amount of Brent Council officer time (hours and/or cost) spent on the Land Tribunal case.
3. The expected compensation costs to be paid by Brent Council in settling the case with the appellants.
4. Any other costs to be paid by Brent Council in addition to the above.

Wembley's famous dame remembered

Guest blog with a seasonal touch by local historian Philip Grant 

[Image courtesy of Terry Lomas and the British Music Hall Society]

 One of the traditional features of the festive season is the pantomime, and the slapstick comedy “dame” is often a highlight of these shows. Did you know that Wembley was once home to a man who did much to influence how the “dame” role is played? As you pass along Forty Lane you may have seen a blue plaque commemorating Arthur Lucan, and at this appropriate time of year a new illustrated article has appeared on the Brent Archives online Local History Resources site which tells his story. 

You can read “Arthur Lucan – the man who was Old Mother Riley” HERE

A taste of Old Mother Riley with some evocative period background

 

Wembley, and the rest of Brent, does matter, so enjoy its history, and carry on working for a better present and future. Seasons greetings to Martin and all the readers of his “blog”, and best wishes for a happy, healthy and hopefully more just 2014.
Philip Grant.